Monday, September 30, 2013

Kitakyushu Urban Centre (KUC) has just released an organic composting manual for kids, which is titled "Organic Composting - How Great!".

The pamphlet, which is in the style of a comic, shows a family that tries to grow vegetables in their home garden. It doesn't go well at first, but by getting some advice from an imaginary character named "the fairy of the soil" they learn that composting is made from household garbage and makes nutritious soil for growing delicious vegetables.

This 16 page booklet was planned as supplementary reading material for the Junior Science School (JSS) seminar which was jointly organised by the Kyushu Institute of Technology and IGES this summer. KUC took advantage of this opportunity to introduce our research activities on community-based solid waste management in Asian countries/cities. Japanese elementary school children from age 6 to 11 attended the series of lectures and learned about composting and resource recycling.

The Contents of "Organic Composting - How Great!"

Soil that is Friendly for Microorganisms

Reducing Waste at Home

How to Make Compost Part 1

How to Make Compost Part 2

Let's Use Compost

This booklet is mainly for lower grades of elementary school, however it is useful for teachers/adults who are trying to learn how to make compost technically. The English and Japanese versions are available here.